Gilgo Beach ‘serial killer’ charged over seventh murder
Serial killer suspect Rex Heuermann, who allegedly tortured his victims and kept notes on how to “remove head and hands”, has been charged over a seventh murder.
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Accused serial killer Rex Heuermann - who was arrested last year in connection with several cold case bodies found on Long Island’s Gilgo Beach - has been charged with another woman’s murder, bringing the body count against him to seven, according to a superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday.
The New York City architect allegedly murdered Valerie Mack, a sex worker who vanished in 2000, the district attorney said. Prosecutors say DNA evidence secured the forensic link, that analysis of a hair found with Ms Mack’s remains, has been linked to Mr Heuermann’s wife and daughter.
Mr Heuermann pleaded not guilty to the new charge on Tuesday.
He has already pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the murders of six women whose remains were discovered near Gilgo Beach and other parts of eastern Long Island in New York.
A judge remanded him without bail after the hearing.
Prosecutors named Mr Heuermann, 61, as a suspect in Ms Mack’s death in June based on evidence, including detailed notes about serial killings that were seized from his Massapequa Park home, The NY Post reports, citing police sources.
Mr Heuermann allegedly kept a stomach-churning “planning document” mapping out his grisly slayings — which even included a chilling “Things to Remember” section and a morbid “Lessons Learned” section, officials previously alleged.
A computer “allocated space” file that Mr Heuermann allegedly tried to delete laid out a gruesome road map of the vicious murders of six sex workers dating to 1993 — including the decapitation and mutilation of two victims newly tied to the hulking Long Island dad, Suffolk County prosecutors said.
According to a bail application filed by prosecutors in June this year, Mr Heuermann maintained a secret digital record titled “HK2002-2004” on his computer since at least 2000, keeping precise notes on the murders.
The digital document was broken up into specific sections like “Problems”, “Supplies”, “TGR”, which prosecutors said are believed to be potential targets, and “DS”, allegedly for “dump sites”.
The sick how-to file notes that “small is good” for potential victims, and includes a three-part section for “Pre-Prep”, “Prep” and “Post-Event”, the Suffolk DA’s court document said.
“The HK planning document continues to further expound on preparatory measures such as specific ‘recon’ steps taken,” including “packaging [a body] for transport”, prosecutors said.
One section, titled “Body Prep”, notes to “remove head and hands”, which the DA’s office said is consistent with the remains of Ms Taylor and another Gilgo body, Valerie Mack, which has not been officially tied to Mr Heuermann.
The section reminds the accused killer to “remove ID marks [tatoos] [sic]”, which is consistent with Ms Taylor’s remains, which had “linear injuries,” particularly “around where Ms Taylor’s tattoo had been located, which investigators believe was intended to inhibit the identification” of the victim.
Another bullet point reads, “Remove marks from tourture [sic].”
Further, Mr Heuermann allegedly kept a “Things to Remember” section, which detailed twisted reminders such as to “hit harder” for “next time” and to use heavier rope because the “light rope broke under [stress of being tightened]”.
“Hit harder too many hit to take down,” the planning document says, according to prosecutors.
“Consider a hit to the face or neck next time for take down.”
In addition, Mr Heuermann opines on the importance of sleep to avoid “problems” and increase what he refers to as “play time”, prosecutors said.
Ms Costilla was initially believed to be tied to convicted serial killer John Bittrolff, but the documents filed on Thursday by prosecutors said her DNA did not match him.
Mr Heuermann was first arrested in July 2023 in the deaths of three of the so-called “Gilgo Four,” whose remains were found in burlap sacks along a remote stretch of Ocean Parkway in 2010. He was later charged with the fourth.
The bodies of Maureen Brainard-Barnes Amber Lynn Costello, Melissa Barthelemy and Megan Waterman were discovered during a search for a missing escort, Shannan Gilbert, who later was found dead in a marsh. Her case was ruled an accidental drowning, though attorneys for her family maintained the autopsy was inconclusive.
Investigators say Ms Gilbert’s case is not tied to the others. Additional sets of remains turned up in that search for Ms Gilbert, too. Authorities are still trying to identify some of them, including remains belonging to an “Asian Doe.”
In June, authorities charged mr Heuermann with two additional murders, those of Jessica Taylor, whose hands and forearm were found along Ocean Parkway years after her torso turned up in the Manorville woods; and Sandra Costilla, who allegedly died a violent death by his hands in November 1993.
Who were the Gilgo Beach victims?
Suspected serial killer Rex Heuermann was arrested last July in connection with the long-unsolved Gilgo Beach murders.
The arrest is tied to the so-called “Gilgo Four”, women found wrapped in burlap within days of each other in late 2010.
Gilgo Beach is located about an hour southeast of New York City.
The years-long investigation that led to the arrest revolved around the discovery of more than 10 sets of human remains along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach in Suffolk County between December 2010 and April 2011.
Most victims were petite female sex workers with green or hazel eyes. But there were also two exceptions — a two-year-old girl and a young Asian man.
Melissa Barthelemy, 24
Ms Barthelemy was a sex worker who lived in the Unionport section of the Bronx and dreamt of one day opening her own beauty salon. She was last seen alive in her basement apartment on Underhill Avenue on July 12, 2009. Mr Heuermann was charged for Ms Barthelemy’s murder in July 2023.
Maureen Brainard-Barnes, 25
Ms Brainard-Barnes was living in Norwich, Connecticut. She went missing after taking an Amtrak train from New London, Connecticut, to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan on July 6, 2007. Her remains were found in December 2010. Mr Heuermann was charged for Ms Brainard-Barnes’ murder in January 2024.
Amber Lynn Costello, 27
Ms Costello, 27, was a sex worker and heroin addict who lived in West Babylon, New York, at a home with a woman and two men. She advertised on Craigslist and Backpage to support her and her roommates’ drug habits. Ms Costello was found on December 13, 2010, after having been last seen leaving her home September 2, 2010. Mr Heuermann was charged for Ms Costello’s murder in July 2023.
Megan Waterman, 22
Ms Waterman, a 22-year-old mother of one, was last seen on June 6, 2010. She lived in Scarborough, Maine, and earned a living as an escort. She was last seen by her family boarding a New York-bound Concord Trailways bus in Maine. Her body was found on December 13, 2010, on the north side of Ocean Parkway, near Gilgo Beach. Mr Heuermann was charged for Ms Waterman’s murder in July 2023.
Jessica Taylor, 20
Remains belonging to Ms Taylor, a 20-year-old woman working as an escort in New York City, were found in a wooded area in Manorville on July 26, 2003. Her additional remains — initially labelled “Jane Doe No. 5” — were discovered on March 29, 2011, along Ocean Parkway.
Valerie Mack, 24
Ms Mack was 24 years old and living in Philadelphia when she went missing. She worked as an escort, using the alias “Melissa Taylor”. Relatives last saw Ms Mack in the spring or summer of 2000 in Port Republic, New Jersey, but she was never reported as missing to the police. Her partial skeletal remains were found in Manorville in September 2000 but were initially known as “Jane Doe No. 6.” More bones were found on April 4, 2011, along Ocean Parkway.
Unidentified Asian man
The skeletal remains of a yet-to-be-identified Asian man were found along Ocean Parkway on April 4, 2011. It is estimated that the man was between 17 and 23 years old at the time of his death. He was approximately five feet six inches (168 centimetres) tall with bad teeth.
‘Peaches’ and her daughter
An African American woman’s partial remains were discovered in Hempstead Lake State Park back in 1997, and she had become known as “Peaches” because of a bitten tattoo of a peach on her left breast. On April 4, 2011, police uncovered the remains of a toddler, who was about two years old at the time of her death. DNA testing confirmed that one of the skeletons was that of the two-year-old girl’s mother, “Peaches”.
Karen Vergata
A victim previously referred to as “Jane Doe No. 7” has been identified as Ms Vergata, a 34-year-old Manhattan woman. Ms Vergata is believed to have disappeared around February 14, 1996. Two months later, her legs were found in a plastic bag at a park near Fire Island’s Blue Point Beach. At the time of her disappearance, Ms Vergata was believed to have been working as an escort. Two sets of Ms Vergata’s remains were identified in August 2023.
Shannan Gilbert, 23
Ms Gilbert was a Craigslist escort who lived in Jersey City. She travelled with her driver Michael Pak from Manhattan to meet a client, Joseph Brewer, at his home in the Oak Beach Association on the morning of May 1, 2010. She spoke with two neighbours before disappearing. Her body was discovered in a marsh near Oak Beach — about half a mile (800 metres) from where she was last seen alive — on December 13, 2011.
Sandra Costilla
Ms Costilla was murdered in 1993 but had not been included among the so-called Gilgo Beach victims — until recently. Investigators suspected convicted serial killer John Bittrolff in Ms Costilla’s death, but he was never charged in her slaying — which remains one of several unsolved Long Island murders.
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